We have a world record holder amongst us!

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
There's a fairly new member here, his handle is 720hoursWorldRecord..

I was curious about his handle and PM'd him and sure enough, he's in the Guiness Book of World Records for playing drums 720 hours straight (w/ 5 minute breaks every hour).

I asked him if he was OK with me starting a thread highlighting his feat and he was OK with it, so here it is. I thought some here would find it interesting to say the least.

So Cliff, can you go into excruciating detail about the whole story?

How did you prep?
Did you play just what came to your mind the whole time or were you reading anything or playing along to anything?
Was anybody murdered? (This has relevance)
Was there sleep allowance?
How long did it take you to recover?
Was there anything else really interesting that I'm not thinking of?

Really curious about the whole backstory and front story.
 
720 Hours is 30 days. The thing I dont agree with is unless you were awake playing for thirty days straight (which btw is impossible) why call that number the record? Just go straight for as long as you can and make THAT number the record.
 
My wife can nag for way more than 720 hours without a break, & carry out a multitude of perceived self improvement tasks, thus displaying incredible independance. Unfortunately though, as with many of her peers, she would need a pee break every 15 minutes or so, lol!

Seriously, 720 hours, that's mind blowing! Can't wait to hear the answers to Larry's questions. I did a charity 24 hour non stop drumathon on live radio, back in the day. Raised quite a bit of money too (with the exception of a miniscule contribution from Sir Paul. Some of you may remember my post on that). I carried a snare drum into the toilet with me and continued to play with one hand. Not easy (& no, you're not getting any method detail!). After that, I was completely finished, so how the hell our friend managed 720 hours, is beyond me!
 
720 Hours is 30 days. The thing I dont agree with is unless you were awake playing for thirty days straight (which btw is impossible) why call that number the record? Just go straight for as long as you can and make THAT number the record.

I did not make the rules for endurance events The Guinness Book of World Records made the rules. 5 minutes rest allowance for every hour of endurance. The time can be saved up and be used however you wish.

The guy before me did 505 hours, I did 720 hours and the guy after me did 736 hours.
 
I did not make the rules for endurance events The Guinness Book of World Records made the rules. 5 minutes rest allowance for every hour of endurance. The time can be saved up and be used however you wish.

The guy before me did 505 hours, I did 720 hours and the guy after me did 736 hours.

I didn't assume that you made the rules. I just think the next time someone runs a sub 4 min. mile we can stop the clock every 10 seconds for 2 seconds and see what the new world record is.
 
So what's the world record for continuous drumming without breaks?
 
I'm especially curious as to what you played. Who has 720 hours' worth of drum beats in their head?

Did you play only a few different beats? What genre were they? Did you play mostly softer genres?

Speaking of volume, did you wear ear protection?
 
There's a fairly new member here, his handle is 720hoursWorldRecord..

I was curious about his handle and PM'd him and sure enough, he's in the Guiness Book of World Records for playing drums 720 hours straight (w/ 5 minute breaks every hour).

I asked him if he was OK with me starting a thread highlighting his feat and he was OK with it, so here it is. I thought some here would find it interesting to say the least.

So Cliff, can you go into excruciating detail about the whole story?

How did you prep?
Did you play just what came to your mind the whole time or were you reading anything or playing along to anything?
Was anybody murdered? (This has relevance)
Was there sleep allowance?
How long did it take you to recover?
Was there anything else really interesting that I'm not thinking of?

Really curious about the whole backstory and front story.

I have a lot of people ask me about it, so this thread might actually free up some spare time for me!!

1) How did you prep?

That was the hard thing. I talked to some doctors that told me what would happen to me. They said that my mind could play tricks on me, could loose balance and when I did take rest breaks my body would do a ton of twitching. I tried to get as little sleep as possible for weeks at a time to get use to it, I was in a sense playing a war between my body and mind. I am a very head strong person, once I get something that I want to do - its hard to stop the thoughts. I asked the guy that held the 505 hour record (on a long phone call) how he did every thing and I made improvements to everything he did.

I found a bar with a large window in front (which I was put in). The bar was in a mall and was open 7 days a week. anyone that went past the window could see me face to face. I got a few companies to support me during the event.

2) Did you play just what came to your mind the whole time or were you reading anything or playing along to anything?

I had a PA around my kit and had music going the whole time - except when the bands played at the other end of the bar I was in. They had a lot of bands playing. I was at the other end of a long large room. I remember a time that the band that was playing asked if I could play a little softer.

My ultimate goal was to NOT fall asleep so I kept a good speed going, nothing too slow - that would make me crash. I kept up a ton of eating when I got tired. McDonalds was providing all the food to me and my witnesses. I remember after the first week, I could not stand the smell of Filet O Fish coming in the door.

3) Was anybody murdered? (This has relevance)

YES, the day I went to set up my drums there was a body outline in chalk within a few feet of the bar entrance and all I could think of was OH S*** what kind of place is this? As it turned out - a small man was an accountant who would just play pin ball once in a while was confronted by a large motorcycle gang member walking out the door. The accountant just happened to have a gun and fired "what he said" was a warning shot at the Big guy - he hit him in the forehead. The man was not convicted of anything.

4) Was there sleep allowance?

Yes 5 minutes for every hour of event. I stayed on the set for 3 days, then took approx an hour off each night for the next 27 days. The first week was really really hard. By the time of my 4th week it was almost boring.

5) How long did it take you to recover?

After I finished - for about 6 months I did not require more than 4 hours sleep a night. Now - I can sleep at the drop of a hat at anytime

6) Was there anything else really interesting that I'm not thinking of?

I was always amazed at how many people would tell me "You won't make it" That made me want to do it even more. My brother in law told me (after hearing about the 505 hour record) that "You couldn't do that if you tried" that was the DING!!! moment with me.

This event made me very sick. The bar owner and most of the customers smoked. I did not. I had lung problems (pneumonia) and needed to be treated for it after I stopped.
 
I'm especially curious as to what you played. Who has 720 hours' worth of drum beats in their head?

Did you play only a few different beats? What genre were they? Did you play mostly softer genres?

Speaking of volume, did you wear ear protection?

Wow - I have no idea what I played.. All I remember is that I learned to play with my fingers to save energy.

The radio station that was promoting me was a rock station, I listened to them.

I did not use ear protection (that was not smart)
 
Cliff, aside from getting in the record book, how else did you benefit? What do world record holders get? A night w/ Pam Anderson?Like did Guiness give you 100 grand? What were the rewards?
Must've really chapped your hide to know that someone bested you after you totally shattered the old record....
 
Clever man! that was the key point to achieve the goal - mind over matter, the main instrument is your brain. Congratulations and Good Job!

I am a very head strong person, once I get something that I want to do - its hard to stop the thoughts. .
 
Ouch... Yeah that wasn't. I mean it could've helped you stay awake but you'd need to be careful not to play loud volume wise either.

At the end of 720 hrs, did your body quit, or do you think you could've gone on?

My personal goal was 25 days, after that passed I was very bored and wanted to get back home.

It is amasing what the human body will accept after you get use to things.
 
Cliff, aside from getting in the record book, how else did you benefit? What do world record holders get? A night w/ Pam Anderson?Like did Guiness give you 100 grand? What were the rewards?
Must've really chapped your hide to know that someone bested you after you totally shattered the old record....

Well aside from getting free McDonalds for a month :<((((( getting tons of self taught drum lessons, I had a massive water bed in the front window of the bar. If I broke the record it was mine. That was it. I did not need much - it was my satisfaction of going after something that was very hard to achieve was my biggest reward.

I held the record for almost 4 years, it was time for someone to beat my record.

I do not think Guinness does any kind of payback, which is good.
 
Wow.

I thought having two kids was sleep deprivation enough. I can't imagine doing it willingly.

What confuses me is the McDonalds part. I would think eating such food would make it much more difficult to get through such an event. If nothing else, the grease build up would make it hard to hold on to your sticks. Although the high calorie content probably helped, as you were burning it off as quickly as you ate it.
 
I didn't assume that you made the rules. I just think the next time someone runs a sub 4 min. mile we can stop the clock every 10 seconds for 2 seconds and see what the new world record is.

I agree with eddiehimself, this comment is uncalled for and somewhat ridiculous. We're talking about an ENDURANCE event, not a 4 minute run. And this is an enormously long ordeal, 720 HOURS. Those tiny breaks are an allowance to go to the bathroom and eat, surely you can understand that you would not need similar allowances in a 1 mile run...
 
Back
Top